The Penguins made their first free-agent signing this morning, agreeing to a three-year deal with forward Pascal Dupuis.

They also have agreed to the structure of a contract extension for center Evgeni Malkin, although the deal has not been finalized. Malkin’s contract will be patterned after that of Sidney Crosby, which means it will run five years and include an annual salary-cap hit of $8.7 million.

It appears they have re-signed Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin as well [as Bryce Salvador, reported earlier], but i’m still waiting for comfirmation on that. The Devils have called an 11:15 a.m. conference call with Lou Lamoriello to “discuss the team’s players.” I’ll give updates and more detail when I acquire them.

update 11:28am, Now updated with this,

The Devils have re-signed left wing Jay Pandolfo and defenseman Bryce Salvador, the team announced this morning.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello also announced that they have passed on the option on Sergei Brylin’s contract for $1.52 million. Lamoriello did not rule out signing Brylin at a later date, but said he will become an unrestricted free agent at noon. Arron Asham will also become an UFA.

If the rumor mill is any indication, the one team I’d keep a close eye on is the Chicago Blackhawks. GM Dale Tallon has somewhere in the area of $13 million to spend and I fully expect him to come away with one of the higher-end, puck-moving defensemen (Brian Campbell, Wade Redden, Mark Streit or Michal Rozsival) over the course of the next 24-48 hours.

One of the more intriguing side plots I’ll be watching is the level of interest in two players – Todd Bertuzzi and Ray Emery – whose less-than-ideal reputations precede them in a major way.